Walking Dead wins game of the year at VGAs

THE Walking Dead: The Game has taken a bite out of the Spike Video Game Awards.

Telltale Games' interactive episodic series based on the zombie comic book franchise was selected as game of the year at Friday's extravaganza, which honours outstanding achievements in the video game industry over the past year.

"Thank you so much. You guys watch the TV show. You read the comics. You play the video games. You make all this possible."

The Walking Dead also won prizes for best downloadable and adapted game, as well as best performance by a human female for Melissa Hutchison as young survivor Clementine and studio of the year for Telltale Games.

Gearbox Software's cartoony shoot-'em-up sequel, Borderlands 2, won the most awards - for best shooter, multiplayer, performance by a human male for Dameon Clarke as villain Handsome Jack and character of the year for chatty robot Claptrap.

Other titles winning multiple trophies included 343 Industries' sci-fi shooter Halo 4 as best Xbox 360 game and graphics; Queasy Games' musical platformer Sound Shapes as best handheld game and song for Cities by Beck; and thatgamecompany's artsy downloadable adventure, Journey, as best independent, PlayStation 3 game and original score.

For the first time, the VGAs were streamed on Xbox Live, the online service for Microsoft's Xbox 360 console. During the ceremony, online viewers could vote on what songs and clips would be played during the VGAs.

The winners of most categories were chosen by an advisory council, while viewer votes selected character of the year and most anticipated game, which went to Grand Theft Auto V.